Summer CSA Week 13, 2022

Posted on September 5, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

After a couple of cool days, we’re ready for another warm dry week at the farm. Aside from routine harvest tasks, the main jobs for this week are bringing in a beautiful crop of storage onions and scouting the fields for weeds that eluded summer’s cultivation and hand weeding.

In your share this week:

Basil – Green Beans – Carrots – Cucumber – Lettuce – Melons – Green Peppers – Hot Peppers – Sweet Onion – Red Potatoes – Tomato – Zucchini

A friend flew over the farm this weekend–it’s nice to see that it looks just as good from the air!

Classic Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

4 large green bell peppers or about 5 small ones
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup cooked brown or white rice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Place minced garlic and chopped cilantro in a large bowl and set aside.
Bring water to a boil and plunge in green beans. Cook just until tender, about 5-10 minutes, do not overcook. Drain well and place beans back in hot pan, turn on stove burner and shake for 30 seconds to dry the beans out. Pour hot beans in the bowl with the garlic and cilantro mixture and stir briefly, then let sit untouched for ten full minutes. Add olive oil, toss and place in refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Before you are ready to serve, remove beans from refrigeration and let sit for 45 minutes at room temperature. Add lemon juice, vinegar and pepper. Toss, taste for seasoning and serve.

Recipe from Feast and Farm.

Fruit Dip to serve with your melon!

Ingredients

7oz marshmallow fluff

8oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

2 Tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Instructions

Spoon marshmallow fluff into a large, microwave safe mixing bowl then microwave for 15 seconds. Add softened cream cheese and orange juice concentrate then whisk or beat with an electric hand mixer until very smooth. Chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with assorted fruit.

Based off a recipe from iowa girl eats.

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 12, 2022

Posted on August 29, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

Loading up the tractor for a hayride last Saturday.

It was so great seeing so many of you at the farm on Saturday. We hope you enjoyed the pizza, hay rides and exploring the farm. The farm crew loved meeting the families we feed each week!

In your share this week:

Green Beans – Beets – Carrots – Cilantro – Cucumber – Lettuce – Green Peppers – Hot Peppers – Onion – Red Potatoes – Tomato – Zucchini

Guess what vegetable these baby plants will grow up into!

Scroll to the bottom for the answer.

More photos from the pizza party and tour!

The weather was beautiful on Saturday in spite of threatening rain in the morning. The pizzas were not and tasty and covered in farm fresh produce. Thank you to the farm family and extended family for providing the awesome food. The pizza was cooked in a home-built woodfire oven right in the farm house backyard. Have you ever had a breakfast pizza? If you haven’t had egg on your pizza, you’re missing out!

Marinated Green Beans with Cilantro and Garlic

Ingredients

1 tablespoons minced garlic

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and washed

Salted water to boil

2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Place minced garlic and chopped cilantro in a large bowl and set aside.
Bring water to a boil and plunge in green beans. Cook just until tender, about 5-10 minutes, do not overcook. Drain well and place beans back in hot pan, turn on stove burner and shake for 30 seconds to dry the beans out. Pour hot beans in the bowl with the garlic and cilantro mixture and stir briefly, then let sit untouched for ten full minutes. Add olive oil, toss and place in refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Before you are ready to serve, remove beans from refrigeration and let sit for 45 minutes at room temperature. Add lemon juice, vinegar and pepper. Toss, taste for seasoning and serve.

Based off a recipe from A Family Feast.

Parsnip!

Parsnip is a member of the parsley family. You eat the root of the mature parsnip, which looks similar to a white carrot.

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 11, 2022

Posted on August 22, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

We’d love to see you this Saturday for our annual farm tour!

In your share this week:

Basil – Carrots – Cilantro – Cucumber – Kale – Lettuce – Bell Peppers – Hot Pepper – Onion – New Potatoes – Tomato – Zucchini

Guess what vegetable these baby plants will grow up into!

Scroll to the bottom for the answer.

Basil, greens mix and young pole beans in the greenhouse.

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients

1 clove garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pan
2 pounds think skinned potatoes
1 cups heavy cream
1 cups whole milk
1/2 tablespoon lightly packed fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces Gruyere, coarsely grated (1 cup)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub the bottom and sides of a baking dish with garlic; reserve garlic. Brush pan generously with butter. Wash and cut potatoes into 1/8-inch-thick rounds.
Transfer potatoes and garlic to a large pot with cream, milk, thyme, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 1 minute. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
Spoon one-third of potato mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle with one-third of cheese. Repeat layering twice more. Loosely cover dish with parchment-lined foil.
Bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove foil; turn oven to broil. Broil until potatoes are bubbly and browned in places, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Based off a recipe from Martha Stewart.

Rutabaga!

Rutabaga or “swede” is a root vegetable and part of the Brassica family. Did you know that the first Jack O’lanterns were carved from rutabagas and turnips?

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 10, 2022

Posted on August 15, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

The crew preparing to harvest carrots with THE HARVESTER.

Last week was a big week for the Food Farm crew: we harvested our long awaited garlic! You’ll find more pictures and descriptions of that process below. We also brought out the carrot harvester, which is efficient but requires many hands to run smoothly. Boxes are filled with high summer bounty. New this week you’ll find green peppers and GARLIC! The garlic in the box this week is “green” or not yet cured. It should be left out on the counter with good ventilation so it does not mildew.

Would you like to come see the farm at peak season? You’re in luck! We are hosting a farm tour and pizza dinner on Saturday, August 27th! Come by the farm at 2612 County Road 1, Wrenshall from 4:00pm to 6:00. We’ll be serving pizza hot from our wood fired oven and giving farm tours. Free for all to attend, we’d love to see you!

In your share this week:

Basil – Beets – Cabbage – Carrots – Cucumber – Dill – Green Garlic – Green Pepper – Green Onion – New Potatoes – Parsley – Tomato – Zucchini

What am I looking at?

This is a swarm of honey bees seen near the farm hives recently. When a hive gets large enough it splits into two distinct colonies. During this process, part of the hive leaves as a swarm to find a new home. These swarms are often very docile because they are not guarding honey or a queen, but always be careful around bees, especially if there there is a chance you could be allergic.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

From Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean

Ingredients

Cucumber (peeled, seeded and cut into pieces)
2 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into pieces
green onion
3 Tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and black pepper to taste
small handful of fresh herbs (parsley, oregano, dill, cilantro) chopped

Instructions

Put cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to make a dressing. Just before serving, pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Sprinkle with the herbs and add feta if you like.

Basic Pesto

We have garlic AND basil in the box this week. The only option is to make pesto 😉

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
2 large cloves garlic
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Combine basil leaves, pine nuts or walnuts and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely minced.
With the machine running slowly dribble in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth.
Add the cheese and process very briefly, just long enough to combine. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

From NYT Cooking

What is Harvesting Garlic Like?

Step one: Janaki uses the tractor to mow and subsoil the garlic. The subsoiler has big hooks that dig down between the garlic rows, loosening the soil and lifting up bulbs.

Step two: Bring in the farm crew! We pull the garlic and stack it up in piles. These piles are then loaded on a trailer and brought to the wash station.

Step three: Scrub-a-dub. The garlic is washed, removing any dirt that’s still on the bulbs.

Step four: Stack and cure. In order for garlic to last into the winter it must “cure” or partially dry for a few weeks.

Garlic takes at least three weeks to cure. Then, if stored properly, garlic should last through the next spring!

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 9, 2022

Posted on August 8, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

Emily, Ellis and Janaki packing Monday CSA boxes

We have full and diverse box for you this week. We had all hands on deck to harvest everything in time for Monday deliveries! Annie and Ellis were even helping packing boxes. This week new in the box we have cilantro, dill, onion, hot pepper, and new potatoes. “New potatoes” are young tender potatoes.

In your share this week:

Carrots – Cilantro – Cucumber – Dill – Greens Mix – Lettuce – Onion – Snap Peas – Hot Pepper – New Potatoes – Tomato – Zucchini

Georgian Cilantro Sauce

This sweet, pungent sauce is a mainstay of Georgian national cuisine, often served with grilled meat, chicken or vegetables. It’s great way to use fresh summer herbs!

Ingredients

2 ounces dried apricots
1 cup boiling water
⅓ cup shelled walnuts (1 ounce)
2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), halved, green shoots removed
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt (more to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne
2 cups cilantro leaves (2 good-size bunches), coarsely chopped
1 ½ cups parsley leaves (1 1/2 bunches), coarsely chopped
½ cup coarsely chopped mixed basil, tarragon, and dill
5 tablespoons walnut oil (or more, to taste) (substitute with unrefined peanut oil, or olive oil)
½ cup soaking water from the apricots, as needed

Instructions

Place the dried apricots in a bowl and pour on the boiling water. Let sit for at least an hour, more if possible, even overnight. Drain over a measuring cup and retain 1/2 cup of the soaking water.
Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and drop in the garlic. When it is chopped and adhering to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the bowl. Add the walnuts, and process with the garlic. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the drained apricots, the lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne to the bowl, and process to a puree. Add the cilantro and other chopped herbs, and puree, stopping the machine to scrape down the sides several times. Combine the walnut oil and soaking water from the apricots, and with the machine running, gradually add it to the puree. Process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let sit for one hour. Taste and adjust salt. Serve with beans, chicken, meat or fish, grilled or roasted vegetables, or grains.

From the New York Times.

Crushed New Potatoes

Ingredients

1 pound (450 grams) baby potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed
1 teaspoon parsley or basil
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Boil slightly salted water, then throw your baby potatoes into the pot. Leave them to cook for 15-20 minutes or until they’re cooked through and soft.
Grease your baking tray with olive oil, and get the potatoes out of the pot and onto the baking tray.
Lightly crush the potatoes with a fork or a potato masher, but make sure not to over do it as you don’t want really flat pieces of potato all over your baking sheet.
Using the excess olive oil on the baking tray, light brush the potatoes with the olive oil.
Season with freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt.
Sprinkle with either dried or fresh herbs and garlic.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 more minutes at 200°C (392°F). The baking time depends on the size of your potatoes, so keep checking on them as they bake.
Served Immediately.

From Little Sunny Kitchen.

Janaki and the farm crew bagging up snap peas. Yes, he is indeed that talll!

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 8, 2022

Posted on August 1, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

– Sights around the farm: tractors, sprawling fields, and farm house hydrangeas.

New in the box this week we have tomatoes and basil; the perfect pair. Now we really know it’s summer! Janaki has taken a well earned vacation with his family this week. The farm crew is happy to hold down the fort here in Wrenshall. We’re still planting fall brassicas, weeding young plants, and looking forward to the coming preserving shares.

In your share this week:

Basil – Broccoli – Carrots with Tops – Cucumber – Kale – Lettuce – Green Onion – Snap Peas – Tomato – Zucchini

Guess what vegetable these baby plants will grow up into!

Scroll to the bottom for the answer.

Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Tahini Dressing

Ingredients

4 cups chopped kale
1 ½ cup chopped cucumber
1 ½ cup snap peas trimmed
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup quinoa (or 1 cup cooked quinoa. Raw quinoa will give you 3x as much cooked quinoa)

Tahini Dressing

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
1 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon agave nectar (can substitute with honey)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook Quinoa – If you are starting with cooked quinoa, skip to step 3! Rinse raw quinoa for 30 seconds in a fine mesh colander. Drain well.
Combine the rinsed quinoa and 2/3 cups water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat a bit to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 10 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat, cover, and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Season with a pinch of salt. Allow to cool completely.
Make the Dressing – In a small glass bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, tahini, water and agave nectar. If the tahini is difficult to whisk, microwave the mixture on HIGH for about 10 seconds. Salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble the Salad – Place the kale in a colander and run warm water over it while massaging the leaves until the kale softens.
In a large bowl, combine the kale, cucumber, snap peas, tomatoes and quinoa. Toss with the dressing. Serve.

Based of a recipes from Cookin’ Canuck and Cookie + Kate

Views of a greenhouse:

Celery!

This is a young celery plant. Celery is related to parsnips, carrot and parsley. Celery is grown for the stalks and leaves, and ground celery seed is used as a spice.

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 7, 2022

Posted on July 25, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

Sugar snap peas below solar panels in the front of the farm.

Can you believe we’re already at the end of July?! We can’t! We are approaching harvest time for our preserving shares, one-time bulk produce boxes made specially for canning and freezing. We have shares of canning tomatoes, basil, garlic, green beans, juice carrots, and leafy greens. Get your preserving share order in now at foodfarm.csaware.com! These preserving shares are distributed via our CSA pick-up sites, so you can pick up with your regular summer share. The one exception is our green bean share, which you pick yourself; a fun excuse to come see the farm and get into the field. If you already have a preserving share, we will contact you in the coming weeks via email to schedule pick up.

New in the box this week is zucchini and snap peas. Snap peas are a favorite for fresh snacking.

In your share this week:

Napa Cabbage – Zucchini – Lettuce – Cucumber – Green Onions – Carrots with Tops – Snap Peas – Cauliflower – Broccoli

Zoodles – Zucchini Noodles

Here are some tips for making great zoodles or zucchini noodles. Zoodles are a healthy gluten-free alternative to pasta!

Ingredients

Zucchini

Salt

Olive oil (about a tablespoon)

Pasta sauce of your choice

Instructions

Cut the zoodles: Wash your zucchini, but don’t bother peeling. You may have seen or tried long curly zoodles before (image below). These are made with a spiralizer. If you have this tool, follow the manufactures instructions to slice up your zuc. If you don’t have a spiralizer, have no fear! A basic kitchen peeler will work just as well. Just keep peeling past the skin and peel the whole zucchini into long strips. Watch out for your fingers at the end.
Remove excess moisture: Pat your zoodles between paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes. This will draw out excess moisture. Press into the paper towels one more time then you’re ready to cook your zoodles.
Cook the zoodles: Saute your zoodles in a pan with a little olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until the zoodles become tender. For the best non-watery results. Do not cover with a lid. Do not overcook. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

Try zoodles with Carrot Top Pesto, from the week 4 newsletter!

Two members of our farm crew harvesting green onions in the greenhouse.

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 6, 2022

Posted on July 18, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

It’s hot and the CSA boxes are bursting! New in the box this week is Swiss chard and napa cabbage. We hope you’re staying hydrated and wearing plenty of sunblock and enjoying the heat!

In your share this week:

Swiss Chard – Napa Cabbage – Lettuce – Cucumbers – Green Onions – Broccoli – Carrots with Tops – Beets – Parsley – Garlic Scapes

Vegan Borscht

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium beets

3 small carrots (~1 1/4 medium carrots)

2 medium red-skinned potatoes

2/3 medium onion diced (approximately 2/3 cups, try substitution with the green onions in your box!)

2 stalks celery, diced

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

5 cups vegetable stock

1 1/4 cups shredded red cabbage

1 1/4 cups chopped beet greens or chard

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste

freshly ground black pepper or to taste

1/4 cup sour cream vegan or regular (optional)

Instructions

Begin by prepping your vegetables. Peel the beets. Scrub the carrots and potatoes. Dice everything up. It’s best if the beets are a slightly smaller dice than the rest as they take a little longer to cook (you could also shred them in a food processor).
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the diced carrots and cook for an additional minute or two.
Tumble in the beets and the potatoes. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until root vegetables are al dente.
Tip in the cabbage and beet greens. Bring soup back up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Vegetables should be tender.
Sprinkle in the dill and the vinegar. Season the borscht to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle borscht into bowls and serve with a dollop of vegan or regular sour cream.

Notes

Cool completely before refrigerating the leftovers in airtight containers. Borscht will keep for up to five days in the fridge and up to six months in the freezer.

Based off a recipe from Simple Bites.

Beets and Chard

Did you know beets and chard are actually the same plant, Beta vulgaris? If you’ve grown both in your home garden, you may have noticed the similarities between the seeds and the leaves. The difference is that Swiss chard has been bred to favor leaf production, while beets have been bred to favor sweet fleshy roots.

The vegetables we eat didn’t just appear in the wild one day. Desirable traits have been “selected” for thousands of years to develop the tasty crops we enjoy today. Seeds are saved from plants that show the genetic variations we enjoy (more leaves versus fleshier roots) and then crossed through pollination with other plants with desirable traits so the offspring are better and better for human production and consumption. Please note, this is different from genetically modified which is done in a laboratory versus going through the generations of plants crossing for desirable traits already present in the species.

Resources for Veg Care and Use!

Remember to use the Vegetable Guide! Click the link below to see a pdf that describes most of the Food Farms crops and how to best care for the produce:

Click to access foodfarmvegetableguide2022.4.18.pdf

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 5, 2022

Posted on July 11, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

We love fresh produce any time of the year, but early summer is particularly special. There’s something magical about the first time in a season we’re able to share a vegetable. We have several firsts this week: cauliflower, kale, cucumber, AND garlic scapes. We’re watching our harvests diversify and we love it!

Pictured to the right: the crew weeding carrots in a wet fog on the 4th of July.

We’ve had some more storms and wet weather this past week, but fortunately nothing severe, and the moisture levels aren’t excessive. A word of advice to home gardeners: stay out of your gardens as much as possible in wet weather. Stepping in wet mud will cause compaction and be detrimental to your soil’s health. Plant diseases spread more readily in wet weather and your hands and tools could make that worse. On the Farm, have to keep working, even when it’s rainy, but we’re very selective about the tasks we do and how we harvest. Keep dry!

In your share this week:

Broccoli – Cauliflower – Lettuce – Green Onions – Carrots with Tops – Kale – Garlic Scapes – Cucumber

Forager’s Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter (use olive oil for a vegan alternative)

1 cup diced onion

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or hot water

1 1/2 cups whole milk (optional)

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

~4 cups (8 oz) mixed chopped spring greens, include scapes, kale, green onions, carrot tops, and/or broccoli (use whatever is on hand!)

3 tablespoons olive oil (to cook meat)

3 oz chorizo or bacon, finely diced (optional)

Preparation

Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the butter foams add onion and potato and stir to coat butter. Add salt and pepper. Turn down heat and sweat the onions and potato on with a tight fitting lid for 10 minutes. Vegetables should not brown.
Heat the stock (or water) in a saucepan until simmering. Add hot liquid to potatoes and onions and simmer 5-10 minutes more until vegetables are completely cooked. Add greens and simmer uncovered for 2-3 minutes more. (Don’t over cook the greens!)
Blend with a blender or hand blender. Puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir or blend in milk and cream.
If adding meat, heat olive oil in a small skillet. Add chorizo or bacon and cook until fat is rendered and meat is crisp, 5-10 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve the oil for a garnish or other cooking projects.
Serve soup hot with the above meat and a few drops of the cooking oil to garnish.

This soup can be made a day in advance and kept in the refrigerator! Just gently reheat on the stove top, uncovered. To make this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth and skip step 4. To make vegan, also exclude the milk and cream, or substitute with vegan milk option.

*The above recipe is adapted from “Forgotten Skills of Cooking” by Darina Allen and has revisions from volunteer Deb Rausch to better suit our boxes this week. *(Source of recipe previously listed incorrectly.)

garlic scapes ready to go into share boxes

What are garlic scapes?

Scapes are the curly stems produced by hardneck varieties of garlic. We prune off these scapes so the garlic plant puts more energy into producing the garlic heads we all enjoy. If left on the plant these scapes would produce bulbils, which are like seeds that produce a clone of the parent plant.

Lucky for us, scapes are super tasty and get us through the early summer before the garlic crop is ready! Scapes are have a hot garlic flavor when eaten fresh and are a great garlic replacement in pesto. When cooked, the flavor mellows out. Try grilling garlic scapes or adding them to soups.

Still looking for recipes?

Use the Tag Cloud below to find archived recipes from past years. Just click an ingredient below and you’ll be taken to a list of all posted newsletters with a recipe that includes that vegetable. The larger the text below, the more posts there are including that vegetable.

The farm crew admiring dramatic cloud formations on 7/11 just before being pelted with rain.

For the farm crew,

Starr

Summer CSA Week 4, 2022

Posted on July 4, 2022 by starratfoodfarm

We have fun, even when mulching tomatoes on a hot day.

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you enjoy some family time, great food, and protect your dogs from the scary firework noises.

On the farm we’re celebrating with our first harvest of carrots! The carrots in the share this week are coming with their tops ON because carrots greens are edible and TASTY. See below for a carrot top pesto recipe.

In your share this week:

Green Onions – Broccoli – Lettuce – Carrots with tops – Radishes

Carrot Top Pesto

Ingredients

1/3 cup pine nuts (try substituting cashews, walnuts or sunflower seeds)

2 small cloves garlic, peeled

4 cups lightly packed, well washed and dried carrot top greens (from 1 1-pound bunch of carrots)

1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, plus more as needed (NOTE: If your bunch of carrots yields less than 4 cups of greens, add as much basil as you need to get a total of 5 cups of greens.)

1/3 cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

In a small, dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts, shaking the pan frequently, until fragrant and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly.
In a food processor, process the pine nuts with garlic until minced. Add the carrot tops, basil, cheese, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper and process until finely minced. With the machine running, slowly pour the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube and process until well blended.

Radish Salad

1 serving

Ingredients

6 radishes

1/2 tablespoon salt, plus more to season

vinaigrette or orange juice

olive oil

pepper

red pepper flakes (optional)

mint or parsley (garnish)

Preparation

Cut about radishes into matchsticks or sliced very thinly and placed in a bowl of cold water with a tablespoon of salt. Let the radishes soak for about 15 minutes, drain them, and rinse them well.
Dress the radishes with a vinaigrette or orange juice and a bit of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of hot pepper flakes if you like them and garnish with mint or parsley.

Last week we mulched the field tomatoes (pictured above). These tomatoes are paste type tomatoes for sauces and will go towards the canning tomato preserving share. Food Farm preserving shares are one-time boxes made specially for the canning crowd. Whether you want to stock up on freezer pesto, make all your family dilly beans for Christmas, or perfect your marinara recipe, the preserving shares are ideal for community members who want bulk orders of the freshest local produce. Canning tomatoes will be ready for pick-up between the beginning of August and the first frost, but you can (and should!) get your preserving share order in now at foodfarm.csaware.com .

We are fortunate at the Food Farm to have enough space and appropriate equipment to grow our own mulch. Other farms have to buy in straw. Janaki cuts fields of tall rye cover crop and then the crew tucks in the tomatoes using sleds and pitchforks. It’s like sledding, but all uphill and a lot more itchy! The mulch will suppress the weeds and keep in soil moisture so our tomatoes grow big and strong.

For the farm crew,

Starr